Egypt achieves highest economic growth in 10 years

CAIRO – 2 August 2018: In the fiscal year 2017/2018, economic growth went up to 5.3 percent from 4.2 percent in the precedent fiscal year recording the highest rate in 10 years, Ministry of Planning, Follow-Up, and Administrative Reform indicated Wednesday on its account on Facebook.

Investment and exports make up 74 percent of that growth. The last quarter of the past fiscal year experienced 5.4 percent of economic growth compared to five percent at the same period in the previous fiscal year.

That is the highest quarterly growth achieved in Egypt over the past 10 years with investment and exports making up 76 percent.

Egypt’s budget deficit for the 2017-2018 fiscal year was 9.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from 10.9 percent the previous year, deputy finance minister Ahmed Kojak said in July.

Egypt achieved a primary fiscal surplus for the first time in 15 years, making LE 4 billion ($224 million), Kojak said in a news conference.

Egypt’s tax revenues increased by 36 percent in fiscal year 2017-2018, to LE 628 billion, he added.

Egypt increased subsidies on fuel to LE 121 billion, up from previous projections of LE 110 billion, Kojak said.

The Egyptian government is seeking to improve the business environment to attract local, Arab and foreign private sector investments, newly appointed CEO of General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Mohsen Adel said on Tuesday.

Adel pointed out that the past period witnessed a transformation in the economic structure, adding that the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation led several legislative amendments and a strong configuration of investment infrastructure in Egypt.